Hydrocarbon-producing wells often are stimulated by hydraulic fracturing operations, wherein a servicing fluid such as a fracturing fluid or a perforating fluid may be introduced into a portion of a subterranean formation penetrated by a wellbore at a hydraulic pressure sufficient to create or enhance at least one fracture therein. Such a subterranean formation stimulation treatment may increase hydrocarbon production from the well.
In some wellbores, it may be desirable to selectively create multiple fractures along a wellbore at a distance apart from each other, accessing multiple “pay zones.” The multiple fractures should each have adequate conductivity, so that the greatest possible quantity of hydrocarbons in an oil and gas reservoir can be produced from the wellbore. Some pay zones may extend a substantial distance along the length of a wellbore.
In order to adequately induce the formation of fractures within such zones in an efficient manner, it may be advantageous to introduce a stimulation fluid via multiple points of entry into the formation, each of the points of entry being positioned along the wellbore and adjacent to multiple zones. Individually treating each zone can be time-consuming and may necessitate additional equipment, for example, to isolate points of entry adjacent to the point of entry utilized to treat a particular zone. In addition, it may also be advantageous to introduce a stimulation fluid into a formation to re-fracture one or more previously fractured formations or zones thereof (e.g., to extend or create new fractures within the formation). Such re-fracturing treatments, for similar reasons, may also be time-consuming and may also necessitate additional equipment.
As such, there exists a need for a method and the associated equipment that will allow an operator to introduce a stimulation fluid into multiple formation zones, for example, via multiple points of entry, to create fractures in a single operation while assuring adequate distribution of treatment fluid. Particularly, there exists a need for a method and the associated equipment that will allow an operator to introduce a stimulation fluid into multiple formation zones without necessitating that each zone be individually treated.